CHICAGO — Whether it's the Boston Bruins or the Chicago Blackhawks, the winner of the Stanley Cup finals will be the first team to earn multiple championships in the NHL's salary-cap era. Both teams are well positioned to be contenders for a long time to come.

"This probably won't be the last time these two teams, these organizations, meet in the Final," Bruins winger Jay Pandolfo told Sporting News. "The depth each team has, and how young they are—both teams have pretty young goaltenders, both core groups are really young. It'll be interesting to see how many Stanley Cups they win. They might get better every year. Some of these guys that are young will keep getting better, and they should be together for a while. It'll be fun."

Fun for Boston and Chicago, but not the rest of the NHL. While Pandolfo has some bias as part of the Bruins organization, he was speaking more as the 38-year-old veteran and two-time Cup winner he is. Boston and Chicago will have their work cut out to return to the finals in any season — it's not as if good teams in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles are about to stop being contenders — but the future is as bright as the present in the two Original Six markets whose teams are about to face off.

For the Bruins, everything starts with the fact that Tuukka Rask is only 26 years old, which for a goaltender means that he has yet to hit his prime. That should be a scary thought for the rest of the Eastern Conference, given that the Finnish netminder was third in the NHL with a .929 save percentage this season, which he has followed up with a .943 rate through three playoff rounds.

"He's young in my eyes," Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference said. "He's been consistent for us all year. Other than that, I mean, I know he hasn't played that much in the playoffs but Dougie (Hamilton) had a great year as a young defenseman. Maybe we have a different view on it because we see him every day, but his attitude, and the way he carries himself, not getting in the lineup is probably pretty frustrating, but he's been great around us.

"Stuff like that really impresses me because he had a great season, a great first year, a busy first year with world juniors and then coming to us and playing really well. To keep a good attitude at a time like this when he's just trying to stay sharp, for a young guy, that's pretty impressive."

Hamilton, 19, has played in seven playoff games, but not since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Rangers. Part of the reason for that is that the Bruins have gotten excellent work from 22-year-old Torey Krug.

"I'm lucky to be a part of it," Krug said. "As the playoffs have gone on, I've gotten more and more comfortable."

The Bruins are growing more comfortable with Krug as part of their lineup, and his continued development, along with Hamilton's, should make it easier for Boston to continue to perform at an elite level if the Ference, 34, leaves as an unrestricted free agent this summer. While Zdeno Chara is indispensable, and there is no ignoring the fact that Boston's captain is 36, he still is among the NHL's top defensemen, and there is nothing about him that suggests a sharp decline is imminent — there still is time before that becomes a concern.

Similarly, for the Blackhawks, Jonathan Toews is 25 and Patrick Kane is 24, and they don't even get mentioned when it comes time to talk about Chicago's "young guys."

"That's the thing, you don't think they're young because they've won it before, and they've been here for so long," Blackhawks winger Michal Handzus said. "They're the faces of the franchise. Yeah, they're young guys, but they matured a lot when they won it. You don't think of them as young guys because they're leaders of the club. We just follow."

Following not that far behind is Calder Trophy finalist Brandon Saad, the 20-year-old winger from Pittsburgh who has seen action with the top line on the best team in the NHL for much of his rookie season. Saad is part of a group of young forwards that also includes 21-year-old Andrew Shaw and 23-year-old Marcus Kruger.

"Getting a taste of it, it's always something you're going to want to come back," Saad said of making it to the finals. "You always hear guys after winning that they always want to get that feeling again. Getting to this stage, it's something you want to strive for and compete for every year."

Part of the key to success under a salary cap is continuing to developing young talent because of what it saves on the ledger. Sometimes that happens through the drafts, and sometimes it happens with trades, which is how the Blackhawks got defenseman Nick Leddy, in a 2010 deal that sent Cam Barker to Minnesota.

"Nick Leddy's maturation has been unbelievable," Blackhawks forward Jamal Mayers said of the 22-year-old. "I think he's just scratching the surface. I think he's a future Norris Trophy winner."

He may have to compete for that with someone from the Bruins. It probably won't be the only thing that Chicago and Boston battle for in the years to come.